So over the last year+, I've chewed through almost all of Peter Hamilton's collection (Salvation Sequence, Commonwealth Series, Void Trilogy), Red Rising Series, The Bobiverse, Murderbot Diaries, and Andy Weir's big three (The Martian, Artemis, Project Hail Mary).

Going to jump into Delta V and Critical Mass next, with The Expanse Series planned after that with Revelation Space, Old Man's War, and Alien Clay set as future reads along with Children of Time.


Anyone up for discussion about those and others you've liked?

What have been your favorites out of those?

Blake Crouch has some good sci-fi/action novels.

Tough question to be honest.

I really enjoyed the humor of the Murderbot series, I want to see the AppleTV series, but also don't want to be let down.

I think Hamilton's books were great. I'm sure there were some sloggers, but felt like that was more the case with Red Rising than the other - that set of books is also fairly different than the rest, IMO, not really "Space Opera" to me. I felt like the Bobiverse books were similar to the Commonwealth Saga, in that you were more invested in the "group" than a singular character as the main focus (although, Bob.... right?)

zip90 said:

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Based on the books you have read, a Big recommendation for Columbus Day by Craig Alanson. Book one of Expeditionary Force.

SF with humor and action.

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Second this. Long series but really good. I'm about 2/3s the way through them.

There is a spinoff called Mavericks but you should read it in a specific order. There are sites that tell you the order to read the ex force / mavericks series in.

Timothy Zahn's Quadrail series is very entertaining

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkisigan Saga is classic space opera.

James S.A. Corey - Expanse series. You'll be glad you did. This one's the gold standard for me.

Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space series. Chasm City's the first in this series, I think. Been a while since I read these.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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double aught said:

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What have been your favorites out of those?

Blake Crouch has some good sci-fi/action novels.

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I second the Blake Crouch suggestion. I've been a huge fan of his. Recursion, Dark Matter, Wayward Pines. All extremely well done.

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This!

double aught said:

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What have been your favorites out of those?

Blake Crouch has some good sci-fi/action novels.

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Blake Crouch is great, but not space sci-fi

Good point. I should've read the title closer.

Some I have read recently that I have enjoyed
Suneater series (really picking up steam)
Bobiverse series (Dennis E Taylor)
Confluence/Coming Dark (2 series that tie in by DJ Molles)
Red Rising
Dungeon Crawler Carl (kinda spacey)
The Expanse series (one of my favorites)
Foundation/I Robot (gold standard)
Hyperion (overall good but not for everyone for sure)

G.I.Bro said:

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Timothy Zahn's Quadrail series is very entertaining

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So good

If you want some older mainstays, David Weber used to be King of the hard scifi space operas. His Honor Harrington series being the most famous. Very crunchy hard space battles and political intrigue. Kinda drops off a lil towards the end of the series IMO but overall I enjoyed them a lot.

He has some others though. Empire of Man series of high tech spacefaring military unit with spoiled brat of a prince shipwrecked on a developing planet. Dahak series of modern day man kidnapped by space moon and thrown into epic intergalactic war. Starfire series of man trying to survive in the galaxy. Really enjoyed that one overall.

Guess I'm a big David Weber fan. He does very detailed battle scenes and has empire clashing against each other. Both in space and on land. I'm all about that action. Some pretty unique ideas and concepts too throughout.

Can also recommend The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell. Again, pretty crunch hard sci fi. Hundredish year space war of attrition with an officer lost in action early on but then found decades later and revived and has to deal with all the changes of the same war he fought. Mainly the degradation of tactics and strategy. Takes command and fights the war with the old forgotten ways. Also really enjoyed this one with the detailed space battles and political maneuvering.

Nights Dawn Trilogy - Peter F Hamilton. This is a must read if you haven't. So awesome.

Then Hamilton's Commonwealth followed by Salvation and Void and Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space. Both gold standard badass series.

Hamilton is more space opera and Reynolds is more hard science.

Murderbot - first five books were great fun, easy reads. Last two books were average. Actually did not like how Murderbot evolved.

Bobiverse - read book one. Meh. Thought it was boring.

The Expanse is great. Corey has a new series out btw. I bought book one.

Suneater may end up here but I'm only 40% through book one.

Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos should be included here but it's gotten some mixed reviews here over the years. I loved it.

Armor by John Steakley is a stand alone novel that is also a must read. IMO, it's the gold standard book for the mankind armored soldier vs alien species story.

zip90 said:

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Based on the books you have read, a Big recommendation for Columbus Day by Craig Alanson. Book one of Expeditionary Force.

SF with humor and action.

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Highly recommend!

And the first few books are available on Spotify and libby

For fans of bobiverse, you know the group known as the Skippies? They're named after a character in Expeditionary Force

Frontlines by Marko Kloos is a great series. So is the Palladium Wars, although it is not finished yet.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is technically young adult, but it is a really good series too.

Just finished an old school reading block with a few classics that I hadn't read in awhile, and I highly reccommend them even if a few might seem dated:

• The Mote in God's Eye - Niven / Pournelle - Classic first contact novel.
• Footfall - Niven / Pournelle - Alien invasion of Earth. On par with Wells imo.
• Gateway - Pohl - First in the Heechee saga. The AI shrink parts can drag midway through but they fit nicely later. One of my favorites.
• Ringworld - Niven - Can't say enough about this one.
• I, Robot - Azimov - 75 years old and never more timely.